The
Whistle

The
whistle came and Perch hit the dirt, loosing the ewe she had been
working out of the crowd.I
couldnít believe it. Yes, we were "off course", but from my
view on the knoll, this young dog was doing a great job working a single
through the maze of people.

It
was at the Delp Ranch near the Crow Reservation in Montana. The
mid-July days were a warm 100 degrees. The Kelpie National was
again upon us. Ben and I hadnít seen each other for several
months. The previous year he had charged me with the care and
beginning training of his newest young dog. I even got to name
her.

Perch
was the moniker for this black and tan bitch who preferred a lofty view
of the world. Perchís first days with me were spent learning the
basics - sit, down, come, whoa, house dog and table scraps. Some
of these are not recommended within the Ben Means Training
program. But, as you will note, I made more than one alteration to
this program when I committed to starting this young dog.

The
Means program uses cattle. First, I attempted to teach the ducks
to moo. Then I calculated, per duck, the correct measurements for
my Ben Means training pen. Perch and I went to work. I was
determined to start this young dog exactly as if Ben himself had.
We worked hard to achieve each rung of the Means training ladder. Perch
was an apt student, as was I. I did have the occasional counsel
with Ben via the phone, but he had no idea that each step I took or
direction I gave, was his.

D-Day
arrived in February. By that time, Perch and I were into the Means
intermediate-sized pen. We had extended the 60 day recommended
Kelpie program to 120. Though she had had minimal exposure to
calves and sheep, the majority of our training had been on ducks that
couldnít moo. We were at a training clinic with several
instructors. Naturally, we chose our favorite fella and dog
handler, Ben.

As
I walked in with Perch, Ben and I stifled broad smiles. The smiles
being glad to see ya with a special one each for the other. Ben
was smiling because he was pleased I had worked with the pup. I was
smiling because he had no idea what lay ahead. This dog had been
trained step-by-step by his hand.

It
was pure glee when he took the rope from me and spoke to the dog.
The Means arched brow told me all I needed to know. Perch was slightly ahead of him each
step until he recovered from his astonishment. Then came the smile
thatís reserved for me.

However,
these months later, I was not smiling at him when I realized the source
of the whistle. We had agreed, or he had insisted, that I would run
Perch in the Nursery and Encourage classes. I had not handled her
since he hauled her home the end of February. Weíd made a good
showing in the Nursery class, but this one had gone awry with the
cast. And even though I knew she needed a speed check, I was
pretty miffed that he would whistle my dog down. You see, Iím
fairly stubborn and can do a good job of looking foolish without any
help.

Spying
the sparks from my eyes, Ben took cover before I got there. He had
forgotten that suburban farm gals are quite capable of getting in and
out of difficulty all on their own. But to this day, regardless of
those happenings, that whistle stops, not only the dogs he is working,
but also my heart. - sakonnet